Abstract
Purpose. Glaucoma is known to cause loss of ganglion cells and nerve fibers. Objective mapping and assessment of outer and inner retinal function in normal and glaucomatous human eyes was performed using Multi-Focal ERG (MFERG) and correlated with conventional clinical measurements and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Methods. Five glaucomatous eyes and five normal eyes were assessed by full clinical exam, including stereo disc and nerve fiber layer (NFL) pictures and Humphrey visual fields (HVF). The subjects were examined using OCT for measurement of the NFL thickness and MFERG. MFERG was recorded for 8 minutes per eye with dilated pupils, using a Burian-Allen bipolar contact lens electrode. The visual stimulus consisted of 103 flickering scaled hexagonal elements, displayed at 75 Hz, within the central 25°. Results. The ERG topography of the glaucoma patients differed strongly in amplitude and shape from that observed in normal controls, particularly in the two dominant second order response components and within the central 10°. The reduction in a feature at implicit time of 35-40ms appeared to correlate well with the severity of the disease. These findings agreed with thinning of the NFL in OCT but not with field defects. Conclusions. The topography of the second order multi-focal ERG shows promise for the detection of glaucomatous damage. Response deficits are detected most easily in the central 10°, where the ganglion cell/receptor ratios are high.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | S947 |
| Journal | Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - Feb 15 1996 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology
- Sensory Systems
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience